AFC Asian Cup 2019 Full Schedule: Dates, time, venues, groups and complete list of fixtures in the tournament

Iran's achievements have been superlative and the Asian Cup should be the crowning point of a few enthralling years, but any of Australia, South Korea, and Japan will pounce if Iran were to falter.

The AFC Asian Cup is set to begin in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on 5 January and the tournament will run till 1 February.

The the tournament will see participation from 24 teams from across the continent. For the first time in the tournament history, 24 teams will be participating in the event, a change from previous format of 16 teams. These 24 teams have been divided into six groups of four teams.

The top 16 teams from the group stages will qualify to the knockout round.

India, ranked 97th in the World and 15th in Asia, will play the likes of Thailand, hosts UAE and Bahrain in the group stage.